Looking for new RPGs

January 2nd, 2013, 10:35

Hello all,

For a long time I couldn't play modern RPGs, because my PC was too old to run them. Now I've finally bought a good PC but my knowledge is lacking. I tried looking through various RPG sites, but it's very hard to tell which games they list are real RPG and which are roguelike\hack'n'slash. Could somebody please give me a more or less full list of RPGs (not action with attributes, but real RPGs) after year ~2005-2006?

Some newer games I've managed to launch and play (with great great lags) on an old pc: Dragon Age and its expansion Awakening, Risen 1. Among older games: Fable The Lost Chapters, both SW:KOTORs, Drakensang, Elder Scrolls Oblivion, Mass Effect, VTMB: Bloodlines, Gothic 1-2-3.

So far I heard that there's a new Risen nowadays, Fable 3, a new Elder Scrolls game, a new Dragon Age, a new Fallout, two new Mass Effects, Venetica and Arcania. Am I missing anything?

Thanks for the list, although they add in some roguelikes, too, games like Torchlight and Silverfall. So in some cases I'm unsure what to think when I see a totally unknown title like GoT. I think there's no pure RPG list without these additions in existence, that's why I asked in the forum.

NWN2 and 1 I already played, just like the Baldur's Gate series, etc., I didn't include old games in my list, because this list is of reasonably "new" games, just to exclude some suggestions. Right now I'm playing Risen 2 and am very happy

Alpha Protocol must be something alike to Deus Ex, I remember reading about it on the Obsidian site long ago. I also heard something about Newerth (?) and Oblivion, as if it was some sort of unofficial expansion.

What about: Konung, Of Orcs and Men, Krater, GoT, Kings of Amalur, Bastion? RPGs alike to classic ones or hack'n'slash?

Of Orcs And Men and GoT are rather similar in gameplay, and both can definitely be called RPGs. The writing and production values are both good, so whether or not you'll enjoy it will probably depend on whether or not you enjoy the style of play. It's a bit hard to describe, but it's something similar to KotOR where you can pause and select abilities, but it's still kind of real-time-ish. It's a real time with pause system, but I generally don't call it that because people automatically associate the term with BG and Dragon Age.

Kingdoms of Amalur is a fairly solid, semi open world game. It's not as open as Risen or the Elder Scrolls, but still more open than most. It's somewhere between Risen and Fable I'd say.

As for Alpha Protocol - yes, it is something like Deus Ex, but a bit more RPGish and with some funky systems like timed conversations. It's also set in the real world and not a fictional setting. The writing is great though.

Originally Posted by Elel
What about: Konung, Of Orcs and Men, Krater, GoT, Kings of Amalur, Bastion? RPGs alike to classic ones or hack'n'slash?

Bastion is not a very "heavy" CRPG. It has some character progression, but not a whole lot of it. It is an oustanding game though.
Kingdoms of Amalur is an ARPG. It has some rather satisfying action sequences, and looks & plays quite nice, but it is not well balanced. The game is quite simply too easy, even on the hardest difficulties, as your character seem to grow in power faster than the enemies.
Krater is an interesting one. It is a slightly humorous game, but the humor is very reliant on you actually understanding the things they parody, which more often than not are typical Swedish things. I enjoyed the game, but I'm not sure if a non-Swede will do that. Rather hack & slash-ish, but not in the same way as Diablo.

Here are the games that I think you should check out:
Drakensang series
Alpha Protocol
Skyrim (skip Oblivion)
The Witcher 1-2
Dragon Age 1 (but not 2)
Mass Effect 1-3
Divinity 2: Dragon Knight saga (don't get Ego Draconis, DKS is the version you want)
Risen
Fallout New Vegas
Two Worlds 1-2
Geneforge-series
Avernum-series
Eschalon-series

I'll recommend getting everything Maylander listed except NWN series - buy them only if you find them on -75% sale.

You asked for some games. I have Fable 3 and trust me it's not worth your time. But again, if you spot it on sale -75%, get it as it's the fair price for that crap.
DA2 you say? Feel free to skip it completely, you'll miss nothing. Arcania is a game you'll finish in 2 afternoons, do you really want to play such "RPG"? But those others, Venetica, Risen2, TES:S, FO3, FO:NV, ME2, ME3 - grab them ASAP, they're all fun.

Of unmentioned ones… If possible, do not miss the second Drakensang game as it's as epic as the first one was. I know it's old and is console port, but do try to find a game named Summoner, that one's fun. Also old, but a gem you shouldn't miss is Anachronox. Then there is Arcanum. Wait… Those are older than 2005… You probably played them then…
Anyway don't miss Divinity series (Divine, Beyond, 2). Then there is a trilogy Eschalon, currently two games are available, the last one should be out next year (I think). Man I feel I could go on and on…
But actually scratch everything. First two games you should start with are The Witcher and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. :)

You could try out Drakensang 2 as well … It's fairly moderate concerning system specs …

— “ Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.“ (E.F.Schumacher, Economist, Source)

I'd say Skyrim, Fallout 3, and New Vegas are the must plays of the last few years. Nothing else has really pulled me in, but I'm becoming increasingly intolerant of linear or pseudo-open games, which covers a lot of the others.

If you're looking old school, try out Frayed Knights or Legend of Grimrock.

Originally Posted by Menigal
If you're looking old school, try out Frayed Knights or Legend of Grimrock.

How did I managed to forget Frayed Knights. It is an excellent game. It has some flaws (combat is a bit on the slow side), but overall it was a really enjoyable experience, and a lot of game for its price.

Originally Posted by joxer
Isn't Last Remnant some oddball of a game? I've never bought it as my sister-in-law said it's a game only for nitpicks who can't live without micromanaging everything.

I loved LR, played it on the 360. It's a JRPG if you're into those but with an unconventional battle/party system in that you don't command a player or all the players in your party but rather a party or several parties, making for some long, tactical battles where although there is skill and planning involved, luck can also screw you over big time.

Combat is also made a slight bit more exciting than usual TB combat in that there is an added element of QTEs - specifically, a button letter appears just before you are about to perform a combat move and you have to press that within a very short time to add a damage bonus and change the turn of your party to your favor. This on the Xbox of course, not sure how it's handled in the PC version.

Story is decent, voice acting is generally fair and a bit on the terrible side at times, music is pretty good, combat turns out to be fun and well done but a bit offputting at first.

I've been wanting to try Last Remnant for the longest time. What I've seen from it looks interesting.

Which reminds me, in my list I totally forgot 2 great RPGs I played last year - Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon. Both made by Mistwalker, which is one of my favorite studios. Beautiful music in both games, fun gameplay and good stories make those 2 games very fun to play. Well worth checking out if you like JRPGs and turn-based combat.

Originally Posted by joxer
Isn't Last Remnant some oddball of a game? I've never bought it as my sister-in-law said it's a game only for nitpicks who can't live without micromanaging everything.

It's a tactical RPG, I loved it. In the beginning I was a little off because I couldn't control exactly what each character would do, but after a while it was just fine (specially considering you could be controlling 3 parties of like 4 or so characters each, so micromanaging would be too time-consuming I guess)

Originally Posted by Fluent
I've been wanting to try Last Remnant for the longest time. What I've seen from it looks interesting.

Which reminds me, in my list I totally forgot 2 great RPGs I played last year - Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon. Both made by Mistwalker, which is one of my favorite studios. Beautiful music in both games, fun gameplay and good stories make those 2 games very fun to play. Well worth checking out if you like JRPGs and turn-based combat.

Originally Posted by wolfing
It's a tactical RPG, I loved it. In the beginning I was a little off because I couldn't control exactly what each character would do, but after a while it was just fine (specially considering you could be controlling 3 parties of like 4 or so characters each, so micromanaging would be too time-consuming I guess)

those 2 are for xbox though, or are they available for PC?

Oh, my fault. Yeah, they are Xbox exclusives. Sorry about that.

If OP has an Xbox 360 I would definitely recommend those 2 games to him.

If you don't mind, could you please tell me about the imperials and stormcloaks in Skyrim? Although I played Oblivion I never completed the main quest. Now I tried Skyrim, it's a very nice game, but I'm totally lost what happened and which side is better, imperials or stormcloaks. If you tell me about the ending of Oblivion and how the stormcloaks and Talos worship figure into it, I'd be grateful.